Move-on orders will 'criminalise children experiencing homelessness' - public health experts

People who do not comply with a move-on order could face a fine of up to $2000 or a prison sentence of up to three months.

Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro

Public health experts say the proposed move-on orders will "criminalise homelessness" among some of Aotearoa's most vulnerable young people, including children as young as 14.

In a new briefing released by the Public Health Communication Centre, public health and housing researchers argue the Summary Offences (Move-on Orders) Amendment Bill would create "a new pathway into the criminal justice system" for rangatahi who are sleeping rough because they have nowhere else to go.

"The proposal would create a new pathway into the criminal justice system for young people whose presence on the street is typically the result of factors beyond their control, including unsafe home environments, poverty, family relationship breakdown, unemployment and limited support for those leaving state care," the briefing said.

The Bill, currently before Parliament's Justice Select Committee, would allow police to issue move-on orders to people who are rough sleeping, begging, obstructing entrances to businesses, or displaying behaviour indicating an intention to inhabit a public place.

People who do not comply with an order could face a fine of up to $2000 or a prison sentence of up to three months.

Speaking during the Bill's first reading, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said only people who refused to comply with move-on orders would face prosecution. He said the legislation would provide police with powers to intervene before situations escalated.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/595944/move-on-orders-bill-passes-first-reading-following-heated-debate

"Our focus is ensuring that we reclaim those streets and those town centres for the enjoyment of people who live there, who work there, who visit there," Goldsmith said.

He said there were existing supports available for people in need, including Housing First places, frontline services and wraparound support.

He said his empathy "lies particularly with those New Zealanders who have put their life savings into a small business, who get up every day to do their business, to provide for their family, for their community, and for their customers".

"And they find a number of people lined up outside their businesses abusing those who come and go, and make it difficult for them to succeed, and to live, and to provide for their families."

Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii

But researchers say the proposal risks worsening an existing crisis, with children and young people already experiencing homelessness at higher rates than any other age group in Aotearoa.

"Children and young people do not choose to live on the street," co-author and University of Otago Professor Nevil Pierse said.

"Many have left unsafe homes, experienced family breakdown, become too old for state care or have nowhere else to go.

"Yet emergency, transitional and public housing can be difficult for young people aged 14 to 17 to access."

Researchers also identified more than 320,000 children who had engaged with organisations providing housing support, with more than 40 percent identifying as Māori.

"Not having a safe, stable, permanent home is associated with higher rates of hospitalisation, struggles with mental health, reduced attendance at school, and higher involvement with the justice system as both perpetrator and victim, and an average life expectancy 18 years younger than the general population," it said.

The report said Māori made up more than half of those experiencing homelessness, describing the disparity as the result of "systems failures, systemic discrimination and ongoing colonisation".

It noted the Waitangi Tribunal's Kāinga Kore inquiry, which found the Crown had breached the principles of active protection, equity and good government in its response to Māori homelessness, specifically identifying a lack of support for homeless rangatahi as an ongoing breach.

File photo.

Photo: Nick Monro

Researchers outlined a series of potential harms they say could result from the proposed legislation.

The briefing warned that issuing move-on orders to children and young people sleeping rough could displace them from visible, well-lit locations into more isolated spaces, increasing the risk of assault, exploitation and victimisation.

It said requiring compliance with a move-on order - when there was nowhere safe to go - penalised young people for circumstances that arose from homelessness rather than addressing their housing needs.

The creation of a new offence for failing to comply with a move-on order would introduce another pathway into the justice system for vulnerable young people, the report said. It also warned that fines, detention or criminal convictions could make it more difficult to secure housing, employment and other forms of support.

The briefing pointed to evidence showing that contact with the justice system during adolescence increased the likelihood of future involvement later in life.

Studies of young people aged 14 to 24 found those in stable, long-term housing had significantly fewer police offences, court charges and experiences of victimisation than the general youth population.

The authors said the focus should be on evidence-based responses centred on permanent housing and support, pointing to international approaches that treated homelessness as a housing and support issue.

"In some countries, officials have a Duty to Assist people who are sleeping rough or at risk of becoming homeless," it said.

"The Welsh model places duties on local housing and public authorities to help prevent homelessness and to secure accommodation, especially for groups at heightened risk, including care leavers and young people."

The Welsh government introduced legislation in 2015 which placed a duty on local authorities to try and prevent or relieve homelessness for everyone who sought housing assistance and was homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The authors said the framework "treats homelessness as a failure of the housing and welfare systems and a symptom of wider trauma, not as a behavioural or criminal problem to be managed by the police".

"A move-on order requires somewhere to move on to," Pierse said.

"Our focus should be on creating safe, suitable and supported housing environments for young people to live in."

Manaaki Rangatahi marked World Homeless Day 2024 with impactful art activations led and inspired by rangatahi.

Photo: Manaaki Rangatahi

Youth homelessness advocates who worked directly with rangatahi experiencing housing insecurity echoed those concerns.

Youth housing collective Manaaki Rangatahi pou ārahi Bianca Johanson told RNZ the legislation risked pushing young people further away from support networks, while increasing their contact with police.

She said international evidence showed similar approaches had failed to address the underlying causes of homelessness.

"City sweeps, as they're called internationally, have been proven in research to be unhelpful," Johanson said.

"They don't solve the problem. The problem gets temporarily pushed to another suburb or another two kilometres down the road.

"And then people come back again."

Johanson said she was particularly concerned about the inclusion of children as young as 14 in the proposed legislation.

"My concern is that the police are dealing with 14-year-olds. These are children," she said.

She questioned how police would determine the age of vulnerable young people and what safeguards would be in place to protect traumatised rangatahi interacting with authorities.

"What harm is going to come from that?" she said.

"Are we going to see young people being mishandled and people end up being harmed or die as a result of that mishandling?"

Manaaki Rangatahi Waikato regional connector Danielle Marks said the move-on orders risked punishing young people already doing their best to survive difficult circumstances.

"I think the move-on orders is just another pipeline for our rangatahi to go into prison," Marks said.

"They don't have that $2000 cash in hand. I don't even have that in hand if I had to pay for it. Let alone rangatahi who don't even have bank accounts. They don't even have licences.

"And then they've been told to move on when that's the only safety that they know."

The Bill is currently open for public submissions through the Justice Select Committee.

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